Posts - Homeschooling in Hagerstown

NPS

Rainy Day Parks

Post author By Micah Fickett
Post date November 13, 2022

A few months ago we made a reservation for Shawnee State Park. When the day of our adventure arrived all-day rain was in the forecast. While we did enjoy some rainy day cabin activities (including Parks and Trash Pandas), we mainly filled our day with visits to the visitor centers of three National Park System sites: the Flight 93 National Memorial, the Johnstown Flood National Memorial, and the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site. These stops formed a nice loop from our lodging.

Flight 93

The Flight 93 National Memorial visitor’s center does a great job of both walking a child through the timeline of what happened and of providing a space to reflect on the horrors and heroics of the day. The Junior Ranger program didn’t do as much as I thought it could have to capitalize on the excellent visitor center.

Johnstown Flood

The Johnstown Flood National Memorial had exhibits that felt dated but still communicated a lot of information effectively. The Junior Ranger program did an excellent job of helping the would be Junior Rangers engage with the material available. The view of the was-a-lake from the visitor’s center also contributed to the impact of the site. We did not watch the film (the Ranger indicated it may not be suitable for all children).

Allegheny Portage Railroad

The Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site was our family’s highlight of the day. The visitor center offered multiple hands on areas helping our kids engage with the history and engineering of the Allegheny Portage Railroad. Some highlights included a walkthrough canal boat, 19th century children’s toys, a model of a safety brake, and both a miniature stationary steam engine and a life size replica of one. There was also a fun narrative film that told the story of the canal and railroad from inception to demise.

While much of what there was to see here was indoor (as at the other locations), there were multiple indoor areas and so we were glad for an easing in the rain that allowed us to slip between areas.

The Junior Ranger program while fine, was not as strong as the site itself.

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Camp Cooking

Post author By Micah Fickett
Post date November 13, 2022

Two months ago we made a reservation for Shawnee State Park in central PA. The reservation was for one of their camping cottages. Between making our reservation and our stay this weekend we made a second reservation for a modern cabin. As we were packing food we had modern cabin in mind rather than camping cottage.

With a little creativity we were able to avoid spoilage and prepare our food without fridge, freezer, oven, microwave, or even a cooking stove. Fortunately we had brought stuff to build a fire for s’mores.

Take aways

Besides “double check your reservation” we also learned:

Nuggets can be roasted on marshmallow sticks
Cookie dough can be wrapped around a stick and cooked over a fire
French toast sticks can also be roasted on marshmallow sticks, though having our pie irons along would have been nice (maybe for the nuggets as well)

Unfortunately, I didn’t get any photos while keeping a fire going in the rain and cooking bites of food on marshmallow sticks.

Biking NPS

Gettin’ the Stamps

Post author By Micah Fickett
Post date October 17, 2022

Yesterday we set our family record for number of US National Park Service cancellations collected in a single day: thirteen! If the goal was simply stamps, many more could readily be obtained in the National Mall area, but with the set we chose we were truly able to enjoy each stop (as well as picking up a couple Junior Ranger Badges) and our 8 and 9 year old were able to peddle the 5ish miles without the distance distracting from the sites.

We parked our car in East Potomac Park south of the National Mall and rode the following route:

Stamps obtained:

*Cancellation stamps available here (including stamps for nearby locations)

**We decided to save this one for a time when we can get tickets to go inside

***Bookstore and gift shop closed at time of visit due to construction

Both the White House (21-90 reservation window) and the Washington Monument (main release at 30 days, second release at 10 am day prior) require advance reservations. These reservations are obviously limited. Because these are timed reservations we opted not to include them. The loop nature of our bike ride and the desire for an at-our-own-pace visit would have made working in these reservations difficult. We hope to make a second trip in the near future.

NPS

Tenting on Assateague

Post author By Micah Fickett
Post date July 5, 2021

We recently enjoyed two nights on Assateague Island in Maryland’s Assateague State Park. In addition to visits from the iconic wild ponies, we enjoyed the clean and empty beaches.

We were impressed by how well our tent withstood the ocean wind.

We also took advantage of the adjacent Assateague National Seashore walking both the Life of the Forest Trail and the Life of the Dunes Trail. The Life of the Forest Trail was a short easy walk. We did it mid-day to get out of the sun, but perhaps because it was mid-day we did not see much wildlife.

The Life of the Dunes Trail was much more alive. We went in the morning and the sandy path was covered with tracks from the night before. We saw an Eastern Hognose snake eating a toad. Less fun were the bugs that swarmed around us part way through our walk.

Our kids also earned another Junior Ranger badge. If you have kids, but haven’t yet discovered the program, take a minute to discover a National Park near you with a Junior Ranger program. Less official, but perhaps more helpful someone made a map of their locations.

Tags Assateague, Junior Ranger, Tenting

Backpacking

Kids’ First Backpacking Trip

Post author By Micah Fickett
Post date June 27, 2021

We headed out to Rocky Knob Trail in Michaux State Forest for our six and eight year old’s first overnight backpacking trip. This trail was a good length. It was nice that we could park in one place, walk a loop, and return to our car. There were pretty views and yummy blueberries. There were rocks to climb on. The trail even counts towards the State Forest Trails Award. This trail would have been just about perfect but for three things:

a wrong turn due to Camp Trail not being on our map
an uneven tent site due to running out of energy before a good spot for tents
four nymphal deer ticks removed from ourselves

So, if you’re looking for a great hike for little hikers in the Michaux State Forest here is how to

Avoid Error #1 – Don’t Turn on Camp Trail
(unless you want extra miles)

After our hike I found several maps of the Rocky Knob trail. About half didn’t have Camp Trail on them (including the map I took with us). Check that yours does show Rocky Knob Trail crossing both the Appalachian Trail and Camp Trail before getting to the Rocky Knob trail loop split. If you are planning to just do the loop, this Rocky Knob Trail map is a good one to go with; it includes explanations of the numbered posts on the walk. If you think you might want to tack on a little extra, this map of the Flat Rock Trail System shows a bit more of the area. One reason to go with this Rocky Knob Trail map is that while it does not include Camp Trail, it does include the locations of the numbered posts along the trail.

Avoid Error #2 – Know Where to Camp

Due to our bad turn on Camp Trail, our kids got tired before we found a good place to pitch our tents. We pitched here: 39.967844, -77.433350, and while the view was great, the sleeping wasn’t.

Better places to camp that we walked past the next day include:

Avoid Error #3 – Keep the Ticks Off

Obviously this is easier said than done.

We were not wearing DEET. Generally we haven’t run into trouble even without DEET. Some things that were different this time that may have led to the tick attachments:

We were out at peek season for these little buggers (late spring, early summer)
A lot of this trail was much narrower/overgrown than most trails we have used in the past. Brushing against vegetation was unavoidable.
Our camp site was very overgrown (see Error #2).

All that to say, this might be a trail to wear DEET on. This might be a trail to save for outside of tick season (though it would be a shame to miss all the blueberries that were also in season).

Not sure this is the adventure for you? We’ve got others!

Tags Backpacking, Kids, Michaux, Short

Uncategorized

The Nature Inn

Post author By Micah Fickett
Post date February 22, 2021

For anyone who wants to spend time in a state park, but isn’t interested in roughing it, The Nature Inn at Bald Eagle is the place to go. A stay in the comfortable hotel style accommodations includes a delicous breakfast. (During our COVID-era stay made to order breakfasts packaged for consumption in our rooms took the place of the the buffet style breakfast in the great room). Additionally, cross country skis and snowshoes were available to guests of the Nature Inn free of charge.

The sledding hill at Bald Eagle State Park was also quite impressive. Due to the icy conditions, we were only able to use the bottom third of it. We still had a great time!

Watch out for the road at the bottom of the first part of the hill. It creates a bit of a jump if you are going fast.

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Sledding

Post author By Micah Fickett
Post date February 7, 2021

Looking for a snowing vacation, but kids or budget aren’t ready for skiing? We had a great time sledding at Prince Gallitzin State Park.

Two sledding hills are available. The one above the Marina was a blast (there were even sleds available there for our use). Then when went to Headache Hill and discovered a whole new level of fun (we had to bring our own sleds). Both hills had a picnic table and fire ring.

The cabins at the park offer a cozy place to warm up. Each cabin has its own kitchen and bathroom.

Looking for a different adventure? Pennsylvania state parks offer a variety of winter options.

Peddle Paddle

Allegheny River – Day 3

Post author By Micah Fickett
Post date October 17, 2020

On the third day of our family peddle/paddle trip on the Allegheny River we woke to a beautiful mist on the river.

Having made sure all our canoe stuff was left behind in Kennerdell, we drove our bikes down to Emlenton and rode back up the Allegheny River Trail to Kennerdell.

Back at our lodging in Kennerdell we enjoyed lunch overlooking the river.

While eating we decided we’d rather not sit in our canoe again for several hours, so I rode my bike back to pick up the van. We did take the canoe across the river to collect firewood.

We enjoyed our relaxed afternoon and evening.

Peddle Paddle

Allegheny River – Day 2

Post author By Micah Fickett
Post date October 16, 2020

This was the biggest day of our first ever family peddle/paddle adventure. It was the only day we ended up both peddling and paddling.

Having double checked that we were leaving behind all our needed bike gear (helmets, bags, pumps), we set off for Franklin with our Canoe.

We pushed off and began our five hour paddle back to Kennerdell. Along the way we enjoyed bald eagles (at one point we saw two flying together, but I was not quick enough with the camera), kingfishers, ducks, geese, Belmar Bridge, and lots of beautiful fall foliage. We explored some islands as well.

When we arrived at our lodging in Kennerdell, we beached our canoe and got ready to bike back to Franklin. The bike portion started with the fun journey through the long Kennerdell tunnel (can’t see the other end). Along the way we enjoyed still more foliage. Felicity spotted a juvenile bald eagle quite close to the trail (I was again too slow with the camera). And we realized we had not adequately accounted for how quickly the weather would get colder as the sun went down.